you seem to be thinking of "civilisation". the word i used was "empire".

also, you're treating a series of sub-civilisations as a continuous entity in the east. the actual eastern empire only lasted around 1000+ years.

Yep, I was counting from the founding of Rome.
I just did a bit of googling just now and found the empire answer:
Approx 525 years for the Western Empire (Rome) and 1475 years for the Eastern Empire in Byzantium (Istanbul).

Yep, I was counting from the founding of Rome.
I just did a bit of googling just now and found the empire answer:
Approx 525 years for the Western Empire (Rome) and 1475 years for the Eastern Empire in Byzantium (Istanbul).

for the western half that's again an overestimation IMO. rome didn't become an extended power until (optimistically) the conquests during the two triumvirate periods. then it became more of a conquest grounds than an empire somewhere after around 300.

Simple economics man. Supply vs demand. There is a huge demand for skilled players in pro sports, while the supply is not all that high. If you had 5 out of 6 people who could be a Shaq or a Kobe Bryant, then their salaries wouldn't be so high. However, you only have a handful of people capable of excelling in pro sports vs elite players like in the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc.

Absolutely no one can justify athletes being paid the ridiculous amount of money they get. Sure they are the best in the world at what they do, but in the end they're just playing a game. As long as there are people starving in this world, the amount of money these guys are getting is complete BS.